Part 17

as the fi xed stars and thcy are, acco rding to th em, in th e e ighth

heavcn. whi ch is known in th e lan guage of man y o f the latcr

sc ho lars tiS AI-Kllrsi. Ot hers dcny thi s sayi ng, a ll or the plancts

are in the lowcst hcavcn and therc is no obj ecti on to th c view

that SO l11 e of the m a rc above oth ers. It might be sa id that there

is evidence for this in the Words of A llah , Most High: And

indced We have adorned the nearest heaven wi th lamps. and

We h,1\-e made such lamps (as) missiles to drive away th c

SI1(~roteel1 (ded ls) (SoO/'oll AI-Mulk 67:5), a nd in the 'Nords

o r I-lim, Most Hi gh: Then I lc completed and fin ished from

their creat ion (as) seven hem"cns in two days and Hc made in

each heaven its affa ir. And We adorned the ncarcst (IO""C51)

heaven wit h lamps (stars) to be an adornmcnt as weH as to guard

(from the devi ls by usin g them as missiles against the c1evi ls).

Suc h is the Decre(' o f Ilim the A lm ighty, th e A ll-Knowing

(Sooroll Pussi/a/ 4 1: 12). So Allah se lccted the lowest heaven

from among the heavcns to be ado rn ed with heavenl y bodies,

and if thi s proves lhat they (the plane ts) a re adornments, the n

so be it. If not, th en there is no objection to what the ot he rs

say. And A llah knows better. According to them, the scvcn

heavc ns, indecd, th e e ight, turn w it h all th e fi xed stars that they

contain, while th e wa ndering stars move in an orbit contrary to

it , from the "Vest to the East. So the moon compl etes it s orb it

in a month and th e slln completes il s orbit in a year. I r there is

no di sparity between the two courscs and the ir movements arc

simi lar, then the ex tent o f the fO ll rt h heaven is twe lve times

greatc r th an that of the lowes t heave n. Zullol (Saturn) - whic h

is in Ih e seve nth heaven - completes ils orbit in thi n y years.

Based on Ihi s, the ex tcnt or the seventh heaven w ill bc thrce

" hal PC!rwill.~ 10 Ihe Cn.'alioll 0/ Ihe Iletn'('''~ (II/(/ 85

hundred and sixty times greater than th at of the Ea rth .

The scholars have spoken about the masses of these stars and

thei r orbits and movements and they ha ve enlarged on these

things until they have crossed over into th e "seience" of AI-

Allkalll and th e " know ledge" o f EUrlhly events de ri ved from it

and matters of whi ch Illost o f them ha ve no knowledge. Th e

Greeks, who resided in Syria many years before the time o f the

Mess iah ~\ had spoken at great length about such matters and

it wou ld req uire a lengthy di scussion to ex plain all or it. It was

they who built the city or Damascus and Illude seven g;'l les for

it and at each gat c they built a templ e represent ing each of th e

planets. They would worship each o f them in th e app ropri ate

tcmp le and make supplicati ons to them whi ch ha ve becn passed

down from thcm by more than one historian and by others.

The author of the book As-SilT Af-k' aktoom Fee MllkJwwbaf

Ash-Shams WaJ-Qwl/ar H't:II HVI U'OOIll (The Hiddcn Secret in

the Address to the Sun , the Moon and the Stars) - but they are

superst iti ons to whi ch none should pay any heed. And that is

fa iry tale, and peop le did not ca re o f it. They were also recorded

by some of the sc holars of the Ham ani s. th e philosophers o f

anc ient Harran. They were pagans, who worshipped the seven

stars and they were a sect fro m among the Sabians. (II This is

why Allah, Most Hi gh, says, And from alllong Ilis Signs ar\!

(I) Ilarnanis: Or 1-larralli s: later Muslim writers (afier Ihe . Abbasid Ca liph

AI-r-. la'mun 832833 C.E.) described Ihem as people who worshipped

plancts . idols. stars and Jj\'cd in the city of 1-laTr..lI1. ill sOUlh-east Turkey.

It was said that Al-Ma·moon. passing through ilamm on his way to a

campaign against Byzantium. {arced the Harrania ns to convert 10 either

to Islam or one of the "religions o f the book", mcaning Judaism, Chris-

tianity. or SabianiSTll. The people of lIarran identified themselves with

the Sabians in order to fa ll under Ihc protection of Islam. Sabians wcre

mentioned in the Qur'an, bUI those were a group ofG nostie Ma11(hl~'ans

living in somhcrn 1r.1(1 who wcre eX linet <lIthe lime ofA I-r-,·ta·moon.

86 What Perrai"s 10 the Creation o/the Heave/Is and

the night and the day, and the sun and the 1110011 . Proslmte nOllO

the sun or to the moon, but prostrate to All ah, Who created them,

if you (rea lly) worship II illl ) . (Saorail Fllssil,,! 41:37) And I-I e

infomls tiS that the hoopoe said to Sulaiman (Solomon ~), when

infonn ing hi m about Bilqees, the Queen of Saba', in Yemen and

her al1n ies and supporters, (" I found a woman ruling over them,

and she has been given all things that could be possessed by any

ruler of the Earth, and she has a great throne. 1 fou nd her and her

people worshipp ing the sun instead of All ah. and Slwitall (Satan)

has made their deeds fair-seemi ng to them, and has barred them

from (Allah 's) Way, so they have no guidance. , AI-La (th is word

has two interpretations: (i) Sa tan has barred them from Allah's

Way so tilal they do not worship (prostrate berore) Allah, or (ii)

so that they may worship (prostrate before) Allah, Who brings

to light what is hidden in the heavens and the Earth, and knows

what you conceal and what you reveal)." (To/s eer At-Tabari,

Vol. 19, Page Allah, La ilalla ilia HIIIVa (none has the ri ght to be

worshipped but I-Ie), the Lord of the Supreme Throne! ) (Saara"

Because th e most cminent of the visible bodi es in the heavens

and the Earth arc Ih e planets and the mosl eminent of them

arc th e sun and th e moon, AI-Khalee l Ibrahecl11 .'fJl proved the

fu til ity of wo rsh ipping them; and that is in the Words of All ah,

Most Hi gh: ( When he saw thc moon risin g up, hc said, 'This

is my lord.' But when il set, he said, 'Unless my Lord guides

me, 1 sha ll surel y be ilmong the erring people.' Whcn he saw

thc sun rising up, he sa id, 'Thi s is my lord. This is greater.'

But when it set, he said , '0, my people! I am indeed free from

all that you join as partners in worship with Allah. Verily, I

have tumcd my face toward Him Who has created the heavens

and the Earth Hanijan (Islami c Monot heism, i.e. worshi pping

none but Allah, Alone) and 1 am not of al-nlllshrikaoll (pagans.

Wltal Perlaim 10 lite erealion ojlhe 1-le{lvellS (lml

idola te rs, etc,." ) (Soorah AI-An 'aIJ/6 :77-79) So he made clear,

using dccis ive ev id ence, that worshi ppi ng any of these visible

bodies, suc h as the plan ets, the moon and the sun docs not

bene fit a nyonc at a ll , because all of them a re created things,

subject to A ll ah 's Lordship, His Direct ion and made to fo llow

their orbits an d they cannot deviate fr0111 what has been crea ted

for them, un less it is orda ined for the m. Thi s is thc proof that

they are subject to All ah 's Lordship, crea ted, made subse rvient

and subj uga ted, whi ch is why All ah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And

fro m among 1-1 is S igns arc the night and the day, and the sun and

the 11100n . Prostra te 1101 to the sun or to the 11100n, but prostrate

to Allah Who created th em, if yo u (rea ll y) worship Him. ) (

500,.017 Flissilal4 1:37) It has been authentica lly reported in the

Saheehain regarding the ec li pse praye r th at the Messe nge r of

Allah ~ sa id during a sermon one day, "Ve rily. the sun a nd the

moon arc two S igns from among Allah 's Signs and they do not

ec lipse for the death of anyone, no r fo r hi s life." (I)

Al-B ukhari narrated in the Book o/Ihe Begillning a/Creation,

on the authority orAbu I-I ura irah .}t"., from the Proph ct ~ th at he

sa id , " Th e sun and the moon w ill be rolled up on the Day of

These tradi tions prove th at the sun and the moo n are from

among Allah 's creati ons, whi ch He created for the purposes

that I-Ie des igned and then He doc s with them as He will s. And

to I-lim belongs th e argume nt tha t e limi nates fa lse hood and is

inco nt rove rtibl e.

Wh en this is known, (it becomes c lear that) a ll of the wandering

and fixe d stars whi ch are in the heaven arc crea ti ons of All ah, as

(I) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (1044) and Muslim (90 1), on the authority of

·A ' ishah (may A llah be pleascd with hcr).

(2) Narrated by AI-Bukhari (3200).

88 WlwllJerlaim folhe Creatiol1 of lhe lIem 't'IIS alltl

He, Most I-li gh=says, ( And li e made in eac h heaven its affair.

And We adorned the nearest (lowest) heaven with lamps (stars)

to be an adornment as we ll as to gua rd (from the devils by using

them ~I S mi ss il es aga in st the dev ils). Such is the Decree of II im

the A ll -Mighty. the All -Knower.) (SoO/·oil F lIssiial4 1: 12)

As for what many of the scho lars o f faj5eer have sa id